1 To the Overseer. — A Psalm of David. I have diligently expected Jehovah, And He inclineth to me, and heareth my cry, 2 And He doth cause me to come up From a pit of desolation — from mire of mud, And He raiseth up on a rock my feet, He is establishing my steps. 3 And He putteth in my mouth a new song, 'Praise to our God.' Many do see and fear, and trust in Jehovah. 4 O the happiness of the man Who hath made Jehovah his trust, And hath not turned unto the proud, And those turning aside to lies. 5 Much hast Thou done, Jehovah my God; Thy wonders and Thy thoughts toward us, There is none to arrange unto Thee, I declare and speak: They have been more than to be numbered. 6◆ Sacrifice and present Thou hast not desired, Ears Thou hast prepared for me, Burnt and sin-offering Thou hast not asked. 7 Then said I, 'Lo, I have come,' In the roll of the book it is written of me, 8 To do Thy pleasure, my God, I have delighted, And Thy law [is] within my heart. 9 I have proclaimed tidings of righteousness In the great assembly, lo, my lips I restrain not, O Jehovah, Thou hast known. 10 Thy righteousness I have not concealed In the midst of my heart, Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation I have told, I have not hidden Thy kindness and Thy truth, To the great assembly. 11 Thou, O Jehovah, restrainest not Thy mercies from me, Thy kindness and Thy truth do continually keep me. 12 For compassed me have evils innumerable, Overtaken me have mine iniquities, And I have not been able to see; They have been more than the hairs of my head, And my heart hath forsaken me. 13 Be pleased, O Jehovah, to deliver me, O Jehovah, for my help make haste. 14 They are ashamed and confounded together, Who are seeking my soul to destroy it, They are turned backward, And are ashamed, who are desiring my evil. 15 They are desolate because of their shame, Who are saying to me, 'Aha, aha.' 16 All seeking Thee rejoice and are glad in Thee, Those loving Thy salvation say continually, 'Jehovah is magnified.' 17 And I [am] poor and needy, The Lord doth devise for me. My help and my deliverer [art] Thou, O my God, tarry Thou not.
Psalms · Young's Literal Translation
Psalm 40 Young's Literal Translation
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- Greek and Latin Bibles number most Psalms one lower than Hebrew and English Bibles.
Cross references (17)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Psalm 27:13–14; Psalm 37:7; James 5:7–11; Psalm 34:15; Psalm 116:2
- 2 Psalm 37:23; Psalm 119:133; Psalm 27:5; Psalm 61:2; Matthew 7:24–25
- 3 Psalm 33:3; Psalm 103:1–5; Psalm 34:1–6; Psalm 52:6; Psalm 144:9
- 4 Jeremiah 17:7–8; Psalm 84:11–12; Psalm 34:8; Psalm 125:5; Psalm 118:8–9
- 5 Jeremiah 29:11; Exodus 15:11; Psalm 139:17–18; Psalm 71:15; Psalm 92:5
- 6 Hebrews 10:5–12; Isaiah 1:11; 1 Samuel 15:22; Psalm 51:16; Hosea 6:6
- 7 Hebrews 10:7–9; Luke 24:44; John 5:39; Luke 24:27; 1 Corinthians 15:3–4
- 8 Romans 7:22; John 4:34; Jeremiah 15:16; Psalm 119:16; Psalm 119:24
- 9 Psalm 22:25; Mark 16:15–16; Psalm 71:15–18; Psalm 22:22; Hebrews 2:12
- 10 Romans 1:16–17; Acts 20:20–21; 1 Timothy 1:15; Romans 10:9–10; Luke 2:30–32
- 11 Psalm 23:6; Psalm 43:3; Psalm 57:3; Proverbs 20:28; Psalm 69:16
- 12 Psalm 38:4; Psalm 73:26; Psalm 69:4; Isaiah 53:6; Psalm 116:3
- 13 Psalm 38:22; Psalm 25:17–18; Psalm 70:1–5; Psalm 22:19; Psalm 71:12
- 14 Psalm 35:4; Psalm 35:26; John 18:6; Isaiah 45:24; Psalm 9:3
- 15 Psalm 35:25; Psalm 35:21; Psalm 69:24–25; Luke 19:43–44; Psalm 70:3–4
- 16 Psalm 35:27; Psalm 68:3; Psalm 119:123; Acts 19:17; Isaiah 65:13–14
- 17 Psalm 70:5; Hebrews 13:6; Isaiah 41:17; Psalm 34:6; 1 Peter 5:7
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
Why does my Bible say something different?
- Psalm 40:6 and Hebrews 10:5: “ears” or “a body”?
In the Hebrew text of Psalm 40 God has “dug” or “opened” the psalmist’s ears. In the Greek Septuagint (Psalm 39:7) God has “prepared a body” for him, and the Epistle to the Hebrews quotes that Greek wording of Christ coming into the world. The Orthodox Church reads the Greek. Scholars still debate how the Greek reading arose.
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Behold, a ready obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." David also says: "Sacrifice and oblation Thou didst not desire, but mine ears hast Thou perfected; burnt-offerings also for sin Thou hast not required." He thus teaches them that God desires obedience, which renders them secure, rather than sacrifices and holocausts, which avail them …
… but on account of that which is to be after death, I shall do well to commence my disputation with the truthful oracle of the holy psalm, "Blessed is the man whose hope is the Lord God, and who respecteth not vanities and lying follies." Nevertheless, in all vanities and lying follies the philosophers are to be listened to with …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
… of God: I have trusted in the mercy of God." But let him not seek the empty honors of a famous name upon earth, for "Blessed is the man that maketh the name of the Lord his trust, and respecteth not vanities nor lying follies." After having presented the two cities, the one founded in the material good of this …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
… were slain as a shadow of that which was to come; wherefore also we recognize the voice in the 40th Psalm as that of the same Mediator speaking through prophesy, "Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire; but a body hast Thou perfected for me." Because, instead of all these sacrifices and oblations, His body is offered, and is served …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)